Bread Pudding Recipe: An easy old fashioned recipe is the BEST, and this recipe resembles the old-fashioned dessert recipe that we all love! It’s basic, and uses everyday ingredients and an optional brown-buttered vanilla sauce, or this vanilla sauce for bread pudding, to drizzle on top!
If you're looking for more desserts that work well for sharing, you'll find my favorite potluck desserts here.
Looking for quick and easy dessert recipes to add to your Pinterest boards? Then you’ll also LOVE this peach cobbler made with Bisquick, the BEST Banana Bread, and this easy pound cake recipe!
Jump to:
- What is Bread Pudding?
- Where did bread pudding come from?
- Ingredients for Bread Pudding
- What Kind of Bread is Best for Bread Pudding?
- How to Make Stale Bread
- How to Make Bread Pudding from Scratch
- How Long to Bake Bread Pudding
- FAQs and Expert Tips:
- Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding
- What to Serve with Bread Pudding?
- Amazing Bread Pudding Vanilla Sauce
- How to Make Browned Butter Sauce:
- How to Make Vanilla Sauce for Bread Pudding
- Related Recipes:
- Recipe
- Comments
I’m so glad that you’re here for this bread pudding. It may just change your decadent dessert life.
But if this is your first time here, you’re going to find tons of quick and easy recipes around here!
What is Bread Pudding?
Well it’s not the “pudding” you’re probably thinking of. Rather it’s a recipe that uses old, stale bread, combined with a creamy custard that consists of things like sugar, butter, milk, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla, and then bake it all. The outside edges may have a slight crisp, while the middle is a soft, custard-like texture.
Where did bread pudding come from?
New Orleans is famous for its bread pudding! However, bread pudding originated in England (UK) and was actually created as “poor man’s pudding” since it used very little ingredients. Since then, other ingredients were added to enhance the flavor.
I found out about it because my grandma used to make this old-fashioned dessert and I fell in love with it from the first moment I had it!
When I wanted to make this for the first time, I found a few good recipes for bread pudding in my old cookbooks, but they all had something that didn’t tickle my fancy. (Such as raisins – although you can add these if you like.)
So… I gathered all of the recipes up and came up with my own plan and I have to admit, using simple ingredients helped make this the BEST bread pudding!
Ingredients for Bread Pudding
This bread pudding is made with easy-to-find ingredients. Here are a few notes on some of the key ingredients. See the recipe card below for the measurements.
- Bread: Stale bread is best so it really soaks up the custard mixture, instead of it settling in the bottom and cooking the eggs separately.
- Butter: I’ve used salted and unsalted for this recipe and it turns out great each time.
- Milk: Feel free to try half & half or heavy cream if that’s what you have!
- Sugar: I use white granulated sugar for this but brown sugar for the optional sauce.
- Vanilla extract: If you can use pure vanilla, that’s the best. But I’ve used imitation vanilla in a pinch.
What Kind of Bread is Best for Bread Pudding?
French bread is a great bread for this recipe although I’ve used leftover sandwich bread, hot dog buns, hamburger buns, and more, and it always turns out great! (Or if you have stale donuts, you may want to make this donut bread pudding recipe!) Check out all the different types of bread readers have used over the years, in the comments!
How to Make Stale Bread
If you’re craving bread pudding, but don’t have the leftover bread or the stale bread to use for it, no worries!
Grab some fresh bread and either pop it in the toaster for a bit, or cut in to bread cubes (about 1-inch pieces) and bake it in the oven on 350° for about 5-10 minutes. (Don’t burn it or turn it brown. You’re just removing as much moisture from it as you can.)
I love this recipe, and I really do think it’s the best because it only includes items I usually have on hand, resembles the old-fashioned recipe that we’ve all known to love, and I had it all put together and in the oven in a matter of minutes.
How to Make Bread Pudding from Scratch
- Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.
- Then you’ll start by buttering your 8×8 baking dish (or 9×13 casserole dish if doubling the recipe) and breaking up the bread into about 1-inch cubes.
- Toss the bread into the buttered dish.
- Melt your remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, and drizzle melted butter over bread pieces and set aside.
- Next, in a large mixing bowl, mix together the eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla.
- Next, simply pour the egg mixture over the bread pieces and make sure each piece has been covered or submerged to let that bread soak up that amazing custard mixture!
Oh my… doesn’t that photo of the egg mixture just make you drool!? It does me, every stinking time I look at it.
How Long to Bake Bread Pudding
- Toss that baby in the oven and let it bake the bread mixture uncovered for 40-45 minutes at 350º.
FAQs and Expert Tips:
Just like almost any dessert, or bread that you’re baking, insert a clean knife into the center and see if it comes out clean!
Well, it’s stale bread. Not super hard, and crispy… but bread that just wouldn’t be your favorite to use to make your favorite sandwich.
The reason you want day-old or stale bread is because you’ll want the bread to soak up the batter/custard of the bread pudding mixture.
Yep! It’s actually a great idea to make some of this ahead of time in case you need a last-minute dessert idea or to take a care package to a friend in need!
Just bake it as normal, and once cooled, place in the freezer for up to 2 months. When ready to thaw it, place it in the refrigerator to thaw it out.
You can enjoy bread pudding cold or warm, but if you prefer it warm after freezing/thawing, gently warm it to reheat.
Absolutely! I love make-ahead meals about as much as anyone, especially when entertaining! So if you want to make this ahead of time, feel free to!
You can either mix it all together and refrigerate it overnight before baking, or bake it, let it cool, and then refrigerate.
For best results, if you have left-over bread pudding, cool it until becomes room temperature and store in an airtight container (or cover the dish with plastic wrap) for up to 5 days, in the refrigerator.
Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding
That golden-brown bread pudding will remind you of grandma’s old-fashioned recipe as soon as you pull it out of the oven.
Serve it warm alone, with ice cream, or top it with the super-easy bread pudding sauce that I tell you about below…
What to Serve with Bread Pudding?
If you’re looking for a little something extra to serve with your new, easy bread pudding recipe, you might consider:
- raisins – as shown above
- chocolate sauce
- caramel ice cream topping
- ice cream
- whipped cream
- candied nuts
- dried fruit
- powdered sugar
- or this crazy-easy and delicious bread pudding sauce I whipped up for you…
Amazing Bread Pudding Vanilla Sauce
For years I shared this recipe without a sauce or a drizzle. But there have been tons of you who have made this recipe and left so many amazing reviews and comments below saying you’ve made a bourbon bread pudding, caramel sauce, or vanilla sauce, and I must say… you’ve inspired me.
So when I remade this recipe to take new photos for the blog, I decided to whip up a quick buttery vanilla sauce to see how it would taste, and have also provided a creamy vanilla sauce recipe that you can top it with.
The bread pudding is great as a stand-alone, but I’m a fan of this addition now, in a BIG way!
How to Make Browned Butter Sauce:
You’ll need the following, everyday ingredients to make this drizzle, that is more nutty, and a little less sweet than the custardy vanilla sauce option below:
- butter (I used salted but unsalted butter works just fine!)
- brown sugar
- milk or heavy cream (or even water)
- vanilla
It’s super easy. Grab a small saucepan, and melt (on high) 3 Tablespoons of salted butter.
Once melted, turned it down to medium heat and wait a bit to let the butter brown. (Browned butter is my JAM!)
Then, reduce heat to a simmer, and add in brown sugar, milk or cream, and then whisk for 1-2 minutes.
Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla. Pour on top of the cooked bread pudding.
How to Make Vanilla Sauce for Bread Pudding
Get the creamy vanilla sauce recipe if you prefer a sauce that is more “custard” like, rich, and also called “crème anglaise,” instead of the browned butter sauce that I’ve made above.
Bourbon Bread Pudding
If you love the taste of bourbon in your bread pudding, you can easily add bourbon to the vanilla sauce recipe above by adding in a tablespoon of bourbon (less or more, depending on your taste) when you add in the sugar and vanilla.
Related Recipes:
We have a major sweet tooth and are HUGE fans of bread pudding recipes so make sure you check out our chocolate bread pudding recipe, donut bread pudding, sweet potato casserole bread pudding, and banana bread pudding to see which one is your favorite! Or, you may even love trying this croissant bread pudding!
So tell me… did you make this bread pudding? Did you like it? Let me know below in the comments with the others, and give this a rating to let others know how much you love it!
Recipe
The BEST Bread Pudding Recipe
Video
Equipment
- 1 Mixing bowl
- 1 Saucepan Only if making sauce
- 1 Whisk Only if making sauce
Ingredients
- 6 slices stale bread (Or about 4-5 cups of broken bread pieces or cubes. Some ideas to use are: french bread, buns, rolls, donuts, challah, toast or another type of bread.)
- 3 tablespoons of butter 1 Tablespoon + 2 Tablespoons
- 4 beaten eggs
- 2 cups milk
- ¾ cup white sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- raisins optional
Optional Creamy Vanilla Sauce
- vanilla sauce get my vanilla sauce recipe
Optional Brown Sugar Butter Drizzle
- 3 tablespoons butter salted (but unsalted is ok too!)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons milk or heavy cream – optional *see notes
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and use 1 Tablespoon of butter to coat the inside of your 8 inch square baking dish.
- Break your bread (I made larger pieces, rather than crumbling it up) in to the buttered baking dish.
- Melt your remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, and drizzle over bread pieces.
- In a bowl, mix remaining ingredients (don't forget to beat your eggs first) until mixed well.4 beaten eggs, 2 cups milk, ¾ cup white sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Pour this mixture over the bread, making sure to evenly coat each piece.
- Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top of the bread pudding springs back after lightly touching it with a fork.
Optional Buttery Brown Sugar Sauce
- Grab a small saucepan, and melt (on high) 3 Tablespoons of salted butter.Once melted, turned it down to medium heat and wait a bit to let the butter brown.
- Turn down to a simmer. Then, add in a tablespoon of brown sugar and the 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk/cream.Whisk to combine and simmer/whisk for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla.Serve over entire bread pudding in dish before serving or over individual servings.
Notes
- Which sauce to make? This bread pudding is great even without an optional sauce. However, if you want a sauce, I recommend picking one of the two. The browned butter sauce is more of an “accent” drizzle, and less rich/sweet than the vanilla sauce. I’ve recently added heavy cream as optional ingredient to help smooth the sauce out. If you prefer the older method, simply leave the cream out. The vanilla sauce is rich, more creamy, and more of a major topper for the bread pudding. Both are optional and not necessary for a delicious bread pudding.
- If your bread is really stale, soaking before baking is ideal, so it allows time for the bread to soak up the mixture. If the bread is older but not crusty, you can bake it right away.
- How do you know when bread pudding is done? Just like almost any dessert, or bread that you're baking, insert a clean knife into the center and see if it comes out clean!
- Can you freeze bread pudding? Yes! Bake it as normal, and once cooled, place in the freezer for up to 2 months. When ready to thaw it, place it in the refrigerator to thaw it out.
- Can I prepare bread pudding the night before? Yes! You can either mix it all together and refrigerate it overnight before baking, or bake it, let it cool, and then refrigerate.
- How to store leftovers For best results, store it in an airtight container for up to 5 days, in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Nur says
I tried this recipe and I must say it was very easy and delicious.
Jessica says
That’s wonderful! So glad you liked this bread pudding too! Thank you for taking the time to share!
Melba says
This pudding was absolutely SUPER-delicious , and so quick and easy to make! Thank you!! I used non-fat milk and I made a slight addition to the recipe, in that I added a generous pinch of salt to the custard batter, which further brought out the flavor. And, along with the cinnamon, I added 1/2 teaspoonful of nutmeg. Yum! Also, I lessened the amount of sugar by removing 1 Tablespoon from the 3/4 cup sugar called for. I had put in raisins,, so it was still quite sweet.
I ate 1/4 of this delicious pudding immediately after taking it from the oven, and I didn’t think it needed a sauce or any other topping; it was so good without it!! What a fabulous texture—sheer comfort food.
NOTE: I am going to make this again next week, and will add 1/2 cup of lemon juice and lemon zest to the recipe, and after that, I will make it with drained pineapple bits! But the basic recipe is the best dessert I have made in a very long time!
Jessica says
Hello Melba! Thank you SO much for the wonderful review of this bread pudding recipe! So fun to hear what you did to it and what you plan to do. Thank you again and I hope you get to try more of my recipes! 🙂
Andrea says
I have 6 hoagie rolls. What is considered a slice? Do I cut them in half and use 6 halves or do I use 6 hoagie rolls. I’m a very methodical person so thank you for your help!
Jessica says
Great question! It’s pretty flexible really… but when I say a “slice” I’m referring to sliced, regular, loaf bread. So I’d say whatever looks similar to what 6 slices of regular sliced bread would look like. (Give or take some… that should be just fine!) Without seeing the hoagie rolls, I’d guess 6 halves??
Barb Perry says
First time I’ve made bread pudding. Your recipe is “the b*mb dot com”.
I added raisins (for my husband) and crushed walnuts (for me). I seriously had to cover it up and put it away it I could have sat and eaten the entire dish.
Jessica says
Haha!!! This makes me so happy Barb! Thank you so much for taking the time to share this review about the bread pudding!! Thank you for choosing this recipe!
Samantha says
I love simple, classic bread pudding and this one did not disappoint! I couldn’t believe how easy it was to make and my family scarfed it down in a flash. 🙂
Erin says
This turned out SO delicious! It really is the best recipe I’ve tried. We’ll make it again during the holidays!
Wayne Mack says
Just baked this fabulously delicious bread pudding. Baked the 9X13 size; added raisins to 1/4 of it. I’m so proud of my efforts. Even my sons gave it a high compliment. One of them said: “This taste better than any bread pudding I’ve had in fine restaurants”. Wayne M. (ATL)
Jessica says
Oh Wayne! That makes me so happy that you like this bread pudding recipe. Thank you so much taking the time to share that with me. 🙂
Joy says
Would a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice enhance the flavor to serve for Thanksgiving dinner?
Jessica says
Hello Joy! I haven’t tried that but I sure don’t see why that wouldn’t be delicious!
Diane says
Absolutely delicious! Also added 1/4 cup raisins to the mixture and the vanilla drizzle while warm 😋
Jessica says
Mmmm! That sounds delicious Diane! Thank you so much for taking the time to share and review this bread pudding!
BJ says
I’ve made this recipe 3 times now and my husband loves it. It is so easy and it comes out of the oven looking like the cover of a magazine. Will continue to make and thank you for sharing it with all of us. ❤️
Jessica says
Awwww!!! That’s so nice to hear. Thank you so much for letting me know!
Ethel says
I have a loaf of homemade cinnamon raisin bread dying out in the fridge. I think I will use it to make this bread pudding. Thanks for the recipe.
Simone says
This was amazing! I made my first einkorn sourdough loaf the other day and it came out a bit dense. I didn’t want to waste it, but wasn’t sure if it would work. Oh my goodness, it’s wonderful! I didn’t make the topping because it was sweet enough as is, especially since we had some for breakfast. Haha. Perfect recipe! Thanks so much!
Jessica says
Oh yum!!!! That sounds amazing and such a great way to use up the sourdough! Thank you so much for sharing!
Tammy says
I made it, but I added a couple tablespoons of heavy cream and some rum to the sauce topping. It made it so creamy
Paul says
I like this recipe, but it is not “bread pudding”. This is bread & butter pudding. Proper bread pudding has lots of mixed spice and dried fruits in it.
Jessica says
Hello Paul. Thank you for the kind words about liking the recipe but I’ve been making/calling it bread pudding for years, so I suppose it’s a matter of opinion? But just for fun, I went to Wikipedia to see what they said and found it interesting in case you want to take a look too!
Christy says
I used Splenda in place of sugar, this recipe is by far the best Bread Pudding I have made or eaten.
Jessica says
It is so great to hear that you used Splenda and it worked great! Thank you so much for sharing!
Tracy says
I love this recipe! Of course I love vanilla and cinnamon, so I had to add extra of those. I made the vanilla bourbon sauce too, next level amazing!! I served it warmed on the side. Looking forward to having some for breakfast with maple syrup too. Yummy. It is fancy French toast, right?
Jessica says
So glad that you liked it Tracy! Fancy French toast sounds good to me. 🙂 Thank you!
Lana says
Have made this twice (in about 2 weeks) at a retirement home that I work at and everyone absolutely loves it. I don’t especially like desserts but I just can’t pass this up. Delicious!! Thanks so much for sharing this! <3
Jessica says
Oh Lana! This makes me so happy to hear. Thank you so much for sharing that you liked this bread pudding and that everyone loves it at work, too!
Sherry says
I bet the residents like that you make a comfort food they are familiar with.
Jeanne says
Love this recipe. Just like my grandmother use to make.
Jackie says
I’ve made this a few times now. I shared with my neighbor and they loved it! Super good!
Cassie Keeton Griffin says
Delish!
Denicia says
Very good. I made bread pudding since I was little, and this comes very close to my Grandma’s..
I really like your topping, it just made it so much more yummy.
Jessica says
Thank you Denicia! The bread pudding is delicious without the topping but I agree… it just makes it even more yummy!